Evaluation of Sperm Chromatin Quality and Apoptosis Rate in Opium Addicted Men

Background: Oxidative stress generated by opioids can be detrimentalto human sperm. Morphine, as the main componentof opium latex increases the production of free radicals andmay affect sperm DNA integrity and chromatin quality. Background:To investigate the chromatin quality and DNA integrityof sperm in men with the history of morphine abuse.Materials and Methods: A total of ۳۰ opium-addicted menand ۳۰ healthy controls were recruited for the study. The casesubjects were categorized into three different groups: men whoabused opium (group ۱); men with a history of addiction to bothopium and cigarette (group ۲); and men addicted to both opiumand its derivatives (opium extract) with a history of cigarettesmoking (group ۳). Semen collection was in accordance withWHO criteria (۲۰۱۰). To determine the sperm chromatin abnormalities,aniline blue (AB) and toluidine blue (TB) stainingmethods were applied. The percentage of apoptotic spermatozoawas evaluated by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasedUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The data were statisticallyanalyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), student’st test and Mann-Whitney U test. P<۰.۰۵ was consideredsignificant.Results: There was a significant increase in the rate of anilineblue-positive spermatozoa as well toluidine blue-positivespermatozoa in the opium addicts compared to the controls(P<۰.۰۵). Moreover, case group had a higher percentage ofspermatozoa with apoptosis (TUNEL positive) compared to thecontrols significantly (P<۰.۰۵). However, there were no significantdifferences between case subgroups with regard to anilineblue and toluidine blue staining in addition to TUNEL assay(P>۰.۰۵). Conclusion: Morphine abuse can adversely affect the spermchromatin and DNA integrity regardless of the kind of opiates.

کلیدواژه ها:

Opium Addiction ، Morphine ، Sperm Chromatin ، Oxidative Stress ، Apoptosis